Former PhysicsWallah teachers cry on camera, netizens compare it to reality TV; here's what happened

The edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah has been embroiled in a reality show-like drama, as a group of teachers accuse founder Alakh Pandey of bribery and internal politics. PhysicsWallah teachers Tarun Kumar, Manish Dubey, and Sarvesh Dixit have reportedly left the platform due to disagreements with Pandey. They claim that PhysicsWallah’s chemistry teacher Pankaj Sijairya accused them of taking bribes from rival platform Adda247 to quit PhysicsWallah.

After quitting, the three teachers started their own YouTube channel and explained that PhysicsWallah’s mission to provide good, affordable education got sidelined as the organization grew bigger. The drama reached a peak when the three teachers released a video in which they broke down and got visibly upset while issuing clarifications on the allegations made against them. They denied being paid Rs 5 crore as a bribe and claimed that the atmosphere at PhysicsWallah was no longer conducive to teaching or learning.

The video has gained significant traction, garnering around 1.9 million views in just one day on YouTube. However, a snippet from the clip surfaced on Twitter, and some users accused the teachers of seeking "sympathy" instead of focusing on their students. Others criticized them for "creating drama."

Alakh Pandey founded PhysicsWallah in 2020 with the aim of making education accessible and affordable to all. The company is currently in initial talks to raise at least $250 million, at three times its existing valuation, which would be a significant valuation mark-up for an edtech start-up.

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